The Book Of The Priestess

31

Jack sighed as he sat near a tree. He wasn't used to this this hot weather. He was used to mountain weather.

"So... What makes you attracted to Willow?" Jack looked up to see the man Willow called Cedric sitting up in the tree.

"You like tree climbing too?" Jack let out a sigh.

"You didn't answer my question." Cedric jumped out of the tree.

"Why are you asking? What do you like in her?" Jack asked.

"She's cheerful, She's kind to everyone, she doesn't judge others before meeting them, she sees people for who they are, she's different from the other women in this world. And she seems fragile, but she's not." Cedric leaned against another tree.

"She's nothing like that." Jack let out a chuckle. "She's brave, she's rough, she plays hard to get, she gets annoyed easily, she doesn't let any man touch her, she has an ill attitude, she's strong, she fights well, she finds a way to get what she wants, and she shows coldness towards people. You were right about one thing, though. She's different from the women who live here." Jack said.

"Your wrong. She isn't mean towards others." Cedric sighed.

"Maybe you don't know a lot about who she actually is then. You don't know her true personality." Jack said.

"Are you challenging me?"

"Yeah. Who ever is wrong about her personality has back down from this race all of you men are racing in." Jack stands.

"May the best man win her heart." They both shook each others hands.

"Who's heart?" Willow stepped out from behind a tree.

"How long have you been there?" Cedric asked.

"Long enough. I brought some food. Are you guys hungry?" She placed the basket of food down and she put down a blanket. "I invited the others as well." William, Philip, Kyle and Destan walked out from behind the trees around.

"Oh...." Cedric sat down.

"I made everything. I hope you guys enjoy. I'll be back. I forgot to grab the dessert." Willow ran back towards the castle.

"What's the challenge between you guys? I only heard part of it." Philip looked between Cedric and Jack; and so did the others.

"We have our opinions about Willow's personality. We want to see who is right."

"That's stupid." Kyle took out a sandwich from the basket.

"It'll be less competition to get with Willow though." Cedric said.

"Wait. Do all of us like her?" Philip asked. Everyone looked at each other and nodded.

"What?! Impossible!" Cedric yelled out.

"What's impossible?" Willow asked with the cake in her arms.

"Nothing." Kyle said.

"Oh. Okay." She placed the cake and sat down; fixing her dress as she did. Everyone ate in silence.

"When did you cut your hair?" Kyle asked.

"Before I left." Willow tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"What was the reason behind it?" William asked.

"There was no reason. I just thought it'd be lighter for me." Her long hair reminded her of Yoshiro's nice comments of her hair.

"I thought there was two people coming. Where's the other one?" Philip asked.

"If you want precise, five trees behind me and one to the left. He's in it. It took him a while to get up there though. He barely had any trees in his village. He never swung from a vine either."

"Stop talking about me!" Leon shouted.

"Not my fault your stalking me!" She yelled back. She took another bite from her sandwich. "Dessert? Anyone?"

"Sure. I'd love to taste your cake." William gave Willow a smile.

"Isn't this lovely? Sitting all together and listening to the sounds of the river?" She gave herself a piece.

"Yes. Very lovely." William smiled. Willow smiled back at William. She took a fork from the basket and ate the cake. William chuckled.

"What?"

"You seem to be enjoying yourself. You have some crumbs and icing on your face." William brought his hand and wiped the icing and crumbs off of her face with his finger. He licked his finger and smiled at Willow. Willow began to blush a little. The others had their mouths opened wide.

"Thanks." She took another bite of her cake.

"What the-?!" Cedric looked at William.

"What?" William asked.

"Don't look innocent! You know what you did!" Cedric yelled. Willow rolled her eyes.

"If you guys are going to fight, I'll be going to my room. See ya." She stood and wiped the crumbs off of her dress and walked away; holding her plate.

"What's wrong with her?" Leon finally got out of the tree.

"Who knows. Something seems off about her." Destan said.

"Yeah. I've noticed that too." William stared into the direction she left in.

***

Willow sighed. She was tired of watching the guys push each other around. She took off her cardigan and unbuttoned her dress.

"Willow?" A voice rang from the other side of her door.

"Yes?" Willow froze.

"Can I come in?" She knew it was Leon's voice.

"I'm in the midst of changing. I'll open the door once I'm done." She quickly changed into her night gown and placed her cardigan back on. She opened the door and looked up at Leon. "Can I help you?"

"No. I just wanted to apologize for stalking you. I was going to go back home, but I felt bad before I even got halfway back. I've been following you ever since you found Jack. I think your interesting." Leon smiled.

"I think your interesting, too. Do you want to come in?" She opened her door wider.

"No. I shouldn't. It'll just make the others angrier. Why are they fighting?"

"No clue, but I'm not dealing with it. It's whatever they want to do. I just need you guys to summon the god and wish this world a safe future." Willow shrugged.

Yoshiro sat alone on the roof of his home. He stared up at the sky and wondered what Willow was doing. He wanted her to be with him. He knew she'd love this view. He missed her. A lot. He closed his eyes and saw only her. He wondered if she ever thought of him.

He didn't know what to do with his life now that Willow wasn't a part of it. He knew he could never come to like Amelia. He would never like that snake. She was too evil and mean, and too jealous of everything other people had. He didn't want to come to like her. He knew he belonged to Willow, but Willow hated him. He knew she did.

"Hubby!" Amelia called from inside the house.

"I'm not your hubby. Stop calling me that." Yoshiro rolled his eyes.

"I won't. Not ever." Amelia sat next to Yoshiro on the roof. She wrapped her arms around his. "I love this view! It's amazing!" Amelia giggled. Yoshiro didn't say anything, but he looked away from the sky. He wanted to talk to Willow. He needed to see her. He wanted to see her. "Hubby? What's wrong?" Amelia looked into his face.

"Nothing." He muttered and left the roof.

"Wait for me!" She smiled and followed Yoshiro.

Yoshiro thought of a way to see Willow without actually going to see her. He knew he had to think of a way to get to her. Maybe he'd visit her in her dreams.... if she ever fell asleep.